United set for job cuts after council OKs Hobby expansion

Southwest celebrates approval for new, international flights

By Chris Moran

Updated
10:35 pm CDT, Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly is congratulated as Southwest Airlines employees react to the City Council Members' approval of Hobby Airport expanding on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in Houston. Houston City Council approved a $100 million expansion of Hobby Airport, which allows Southwest Airlines to start international flights for the first time in more than 40 years. less

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly is congratulated as Southwest Airlines employees react to the City Council Members' approval of Hobby Airport expanding on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in Houston. Houston City Council ... more

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle

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Southwest CEO Gary Kelly is congratulated as Southwest Airlines employees react to the City Council Members' approval of Hobby Airport expanding on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in Houston. Houston City Council approved a $100 million expansion of Hobby Airport, which allows Southwest Airlines to start international flights for the first time in more than 40 years. less

Southwest CEO Gary Kelly is congratulated as Southwest Airlines employees react to the City Council Members' approval of Hobby Airport expanding on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in Houston. Houston City Council ... more

Photo: Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle

United set for job cuts after council OKs Hobby expansion

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The City Council approved a plan on Wednesday that will give Houston two international airports, settling a debate over whether flights from Hobby to Latin America would boost the local economy or divide the city against itself and trigger layoffs, canceled routes and stagnation at Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Within hours, United Airlines told employees in a bulletin that, as a result of the council vote, it would be cutting planned operations at Bush Intercontinental by 10 percent and eliminating 1,300 Houston jobs, with the first buyouts, transfers or pink slips going out in the fall. It immediately canceled planned service to Auckland, New Zealand.

The council's 16-1 vote, according to the bulletin, also puts in "significant doubt" whether United will complete a planned $700 million expansion of Terminal B at Bush Intercontinental on which it broke ground in January.

"We believe that splitting Houston's international air service is the wrong decision for the city's future, but we respect the fact that City Council did not agree," United spokeswoman Mary Clark said in a released statement.

"I'll wait to see that they do that," she said. "I think United is committed to this city and that they're going to do their best to continue to grow jobs here in Houston. We already know that we provide a much more competitive environment in terms of cost of living and workforce than any of their other hub areas. They committed early on that we would be the largest hub in the largest airline in the world and that's the commitment I expect them to keep."

She added later, "They've stated continuously that they welcome competition. That competition is at least three years away. So, for United to say there are going to be 1,300 people laid off next week or so, that's just not reasonable. Because nothing is going to happen until that terminal is built. There's no competition today. So any decisions they make in terms of personnel are based on other things - not the vote we cast today."

$100 million project

Under the plan approved by the council, Southwest will pay $100 million up front to build five international gates and a customs facility at Hobby. In exchange, the airline receives control of four of the five gates, free rent in the new facilities and a rebate based on how much sales inside Hobby increase once Southwest launches its first planned international departures in 2015.

"This is what we were sent here to do. We were sent here to expand business, to create opportunities to continue the growth in our great city," said District I Councilman James Rodriguez, who represents the southeast area of the city where Hobby is located. "This is yet another historic day in the city of Houston, and it's also another historic day in aviation."

The council supported the proposition that Southwest's entry into the international market will lower fares, cause more people to fly, and pump up the Houston economy.

"I can guarantee you that our fares are going to be lower than our competition," said Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, who repeatedly visited Houston to pitch the proposal. "It's all about competition. It's all about lowering fares, and more traffic means more jobs."

Lone dissenter

United, which has a virtual lock on Latin American flights from Houston, opposed the expansion.

Councilman Jerry Davis, whose District B includes Bush Intercontinental, cast the lone negative vote. "I don't think the people of the city of Houston really understand what could transpire," said Davis, who worried that it will cost jobs and hurt businesses in north Houston. "I pray that I'm wrong."

Though Davis stood alone in the vote, several of his colleagues openly acknowledged that they were torn. The council had to pick between diametrically opposite visions of the consequences of choosing a side in an epic corporate battle between the nation's largest domestic carrier and the world's largest airline. A city study forecasts as many as 18,000 new jobs and $1.6 billion in annual economic impact from Hobby, while United's own study predicts 3,700 lost jobs in the region and a loss of $300 million in annual economic impact.

Popularity contest?

Failure to approve Hobby expansion would have driven Southwest to shop its expansion plans in San Antonio or another competing city, Southwest leaders said.

Embracing Southwest, however, could trim back United's expansion plans at Bush Intercontinental and strip it of its status as the largest hub of the world's largest airline. Even some of those who cast votes in favor of Hobby did so with some trepidation.

"I'm concerned that we're about to reverse 45 years or more of aviation policy without having had the opportunity to have a sober discussion about this matter around the council table," said District J Councilman Mike Laster. "To me, at times this proposal has felt more like a public relations campaign or a popularity contest rather than an attempt to forge good public policy. I regret that I am not yet wholly convinced that the greater metropolitan area, with its population of just over 6 million people, is large enough to operate two international airports within one system without inflicting damage of some sort."

After the vote, scores of United employees wearing blue shirts with the slogan "Keep IAH Strong" silently filed out of the room while Parker temporarily waived rules against cheering in chambers to permit an eruption of hollering and applause from Southwest employees in yellow T-shirts with the words "Free Hobby."